Funding difficulties forces Storefront Learning Center to close its doors later this year

Mary Beth Maas, an AmeriCorps worker who is a tutor at Storefront Learning Center, works Wednesday with student Kalen Jari.

Storefront Learning Center, the downtown school that serves at-risk students from across Marathon County, has announced it will close later this year, according to a North Central Community Action Program press release.

The alternative learning center has served struggling students since 1972, but declining funding in a bleak economy is forcing the school to close its doors, said Mort McBain, the president of the NCCAP, which operates the school.

"I think we're in a state of denial," said Mary Jaax, the Storefront director who has taught there since the school opened. "We still hold out hope that it might stay open. Optimism is just part of our operating principles."

The school now serves 23 students who, for a variety of reasons, found they could not find success traditional school settings. Since 2000, Storefront has graduated a total of 46 students.

But the school has never been about numbers, Jaax said. Instead, it has found a niche in helping kids that felt castoff by the educational system. Storefront opens its doors to all, including teen mothers, kids dealing with drug and other addiction issues, learning disabilities or a host of other problems.

"We obviously believe in the power of education to change the lives of kids. And every kid deserves an education," Jaax said. "And regardless of what knuckleheads these kids are, we love them."

Students say they feel comfortable at the school because of the way the school welcomes them without judging them. "It's kind of like a family," said Brianna Keley, 16, of Wausau.

There are three paid teachers working at Storefront: Jaax; Tim Harvey, who has taught there for 40 years, and Renee Ogurek, who has taught there for about four years. Mary Beth Maas, an AmeriCorps worker, is a tutor at the school.

The Storefront operating budget was $169,377 in the fiscal year 2010-11, Jaax said, and it has since declined. She wasn't sure of the school's budget this year.

Jeff Sargent, the executive director of the NCCAP said he hopes to find short-term funding to allow the school to stay open to the end of 2013, which will allow as many as 11 more students to graduate from the school.

The NCCAP will work with local school districts to find other options for other students currently enrolled in Storefront.